High-density recording on multiple tracks of a magnetic tape is known. In certain arrangements, parallel tracks extend along a longitudinal direction of the magnetic tape. The magnetic tape is moved transversely across a read/write head and data is recorded or read. During recording or playback, the head needs to stay in a fixed lateral position relative to the tape as the tape moves in a longitudinal direction.
Some existing tape storage systems contain a mechanism that allows the read/write head to be located at the track's centerline at the beginning of the read/write process. Once the read/write process begins, there is no correction if an offset should arise between the head and the centerline of the track.
To increase storage capacities to meet increased demands, track density, which is the number of tracks per distance (e.g., inches), should be increased. As track density increases, the track pitch and width decrease. For proper read/write operation, the magnetic head must stay at, or very near, the centerline of the track, and the need for precision increases as track density increases.
A conventional tape drive system is shown in FIG. 1. This system comprises a tape drive 12 connected to a host computer 10 by a cable 16, and an associated tape cartridge 14. The tape drive 12 includes a receiving slot 22 into which the tape cartridge 14 is inserted. The tape cartridge 14 comprises a housing 18 containing a length of magnetic tape 20. The tape drive 12 is preferably compatible with the associated host computer, and can assume any one of a variety of cartridge or cassette linear formats.
A typical configuration of the tape drive 12 is shown in FIG. 2. The tape drive 12 in FIG. 2 comprises a deck 24 including movable parts, and a control card 26 including various circuits and buses. The deck 24 includes a head assembly 28 which contacts the tape 20 of the tape cartridge inserted into the tape drive 12 to read and write data and read a servo pattern, and motors 34 and 36 for respectively rotating a supply reel 30 and a take-up reel 32. For a tape cartridge 14 of a dual reel type, both of the reels 30 and 32 are included in the tape cartridge 14. For a tape cartridge 14 of a single reel type, however, only the supply reel 30 is included in the tape cartridge 14 while the take-up reel 32 is provided in the tape drive 12. Although not shown in FIG. 2, the deck 24 additionally includes a mechanism for moving the head assembly 28 across the width of the tape 20, a mechanism for holding the inserted tape cartridge, and a mechanism for ejecting the inserted tape cartridge.
The control card 26 includes a microprocessor (MPU) 38 for the overall control of the tape drive 12; a memory 42, a servo control unit 44, a data flow unit 46 and an interface control unit 48 all of which are connected to the MPU 38 via an internal bus 40; a motor control unit 50 and a head control unit 52 which are connected to the servo control unit 44; and a data channel unit 54 which is connected to the data flow unit 46. While the memory 42 is shown as a single hardware component in FIG. 2, it is actually preferably constituted by a read only memory (ROM) storing a program to be executed by the MPU 38, and a working random access memory (RAM). The servo control unit 44 manages speed control for the motors 34 and 36 and position control for the head assembly 28 by transmitting the respective control signals to the motor control unit 50 and the head control unit 52. The motor and head control units 50 and 52 respond to these control signals by physically driving the motors 34, 36 and positioning the head assembly 28, respectively.
The head assembly 28 includes servo heads which read data from servo tracks or bands on the tape 20. Control card 26 utilizes data from the servo tracks to generate a position error signal (PES), and the PES is used by the servo control unit 44 to cause the head control unit 52 to position the head assembly 28. In some conventional designs the head assembly 28 includes a voice coil motor (VCM) 56 which receives electrical signals from the head control unit 52 and positions the head assembly 28 according to the received signals.
The data flow unit 46 compresses data to be written on the tape 20, decompresses data read from the tape 20 and corrects errors, and is connected not only to the data channel unit 54 but also to the interface control unit 48. The interface control unit 48 is provided to communicate data to/from the host computer 10 via the cable 16. The data channel unit 54 is essentially a data modulating and demodulating circuit. That is, when data is written to the tape 20, it performs digital-analog conversion and modulation for data received from the data flow unit 46, and when data is read from the tape 20, it performs analog-digital conversion and demodulation for data read by the head assembly 28.
In some types of tape drives the head control unit 52 and head assembly can be considered to be essentially a second order type spring-mass actuator system. Actuator systems of this type can have a fundamental resonance that is normally within the loop bandwidth. One of the common features of a second order type spring-mass actuator system is the lack of damping unless damping is designed in as part of the mechanical assembly. Damping provides a controlled step response to the actuator. Too much damping will make the system sluggish while the lack of damping will cause it to ring at the fundamental frequency.
In some applications, damping is achieved by mechanical means, such as the use of grease, ferro fluids, etc. A system of this type is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,984. In other applications, either the PES or back EMF signal is used to estimate the velocity state variable for the head assembly 28 to be damped, and this information is fed back to the servo control unit 44. U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,748 teaches such use of a back EMF signal. However, these two methods have certain disadvantages. For example, PES is continuous only in defined zones and also it has the relative position information between the head and the tape making the estimation process rather difficult and limited to the availability of PES. In some situations the servo heads are very near the edges of a servo band. Shock and vibration disturbances as well as large lateral tape motion due to staggered wrap tape layers may cause the servo head to move outside the servo band thereby causing loss of the PES. The back EMF signal is difficult to use since its value is normally dependent on the electrical and physical parameters of the actuator, inductance, coil resistance, sense resistance, and magnetic characteristics, making the task to estimate the actuator velocity as a function of back EMF a very difficult and potentially inaccurate. Moreover the back EMF signal is not tunable.
For systems which have predefined sections of tape where the feedback signal is located, such as the Linear Tape Open (LTO) servo feedback method, discontinuous type feedback signals can present a problem. Discontinuous type servo signals occur for e.g. the following reasons: If the tape suddenly moves up or down the head can leave the servo band. While the head is tracking very near the edges of the servo band external shock or vibration can push the head off the servo band.
The use of a VCM with little or no damping in an environment that exhibits discontinuous type feedback can cause the head to oscillate at its natural frequency. With the head oscillating, the reacquisition of tracking normally takes time which results in reduction of system performance.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method to reduce head oscillation. It is another object of the invention to reduce head oscillation by providing a tunable damping system including an optical sensor to sense the position of the head.